Phwoar, the nation exclaimed as they tuned into Bridgerton, Netflix’s new regency romp. Look at the size of those Doric columns. And what about the chiselling on those ceiling roses? I’ve never seen such gleaming slabs of Bath stone.
At least that’s what those of us viewing with family members said to distract us from the awkwardness of the period drama’s steamier scenes (we’re looking at you, episode six). Who would have thought a teenage son had such firm opinions on cornicing and wisteria?
It wasn’t just the series’ romantic entanglements that set our hearts aflutter. It was seeing these palatial residences as they would have been admired and enjoyed in their prime. Characters stride through spacious halls, exchange gossip in the rotunda off the ballroom and sneak down sweeping staircases to break up duels in the woodland.
Given the Netflix gloss (and occasional help from special effects), these magisterial garden squares and country houses are rendered in vivid primary colours, with gold-leaf detailing, offset by lurid yellow and pink gowns. It’s glorious — especially in an age obsessed with austerity and balancing the books — to see such wealth and extravagance flaunted in saturated colour.
The Georgians lived through a building boom and they looked to classical architecture from Europe’s ancient empires just as Great Britain rose to be the world’s dominant colonial power.
It was an era of excess and confidence and it shows in the splendour in which high society chose to live.
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And while many were lost after the Second World War, Georgian houses still speak to an aspirational buyer who admires the architecture of the ambitious. So here are some swoon-worthy properties in which to live out your Bridgerton dreams . . .
Kent, £2 million
In Bromley, this exquisite country house, pictured in the opening image, fashioned in the form of a Renaissance temple, is set in sculptured gardens and woodland walks. Inside, a 3,500 sq ft, two-bedroom duplex flat is on sale, which includes the mansion’s original circular timber wine cellar.
020 3815 9417, knightfrank.co.uk
This seven-bedroom, six-bathroom Cheltenham townhouse is on sale for £2.35 million
KNIGHT FRANK
Cheltenham, £2.35 million
With seven bedrooms and six bathrooms, this grade II listed townhouse is on the Royal Parade, a Regency terrace a few hundred metres from Cheltenham Ladies College.
01242 246 950, knightfrank.co.uk
This four-bedroom flat in an 18th-century terrace in Bloomsbury, London, is on sale for £3.75 million
MACIEJ KOLODZIEJSKI
London, £3.75 million
A grand four-bedroom flat in an 18th-century terrace in Bloomsbury has a shining copper standing bathtub, a lush garden cinema room and a secluded private courtyard.
020 7240 3322, winkworth.co.uk
Ten-bedroom Wood House in Worcestershire is set in almost 170 acres and is on the market for £5 million
SAVILLS
Worcestershire, £5 million
Set in almost 170 acres in Shrawley on the edge of the Malvern Hills, grade II listed Wood House has ten bedrooms, a four-oven Aga, a range of outbuildings — and wisteria.
01451 832 832, savills.co.uk
This six-bedroom townhouse on Egerton Crescent in South Kensington, London, is on the market for £11.5 million
ALEX WINSHIP
London, £11.5 million
A light-filled six-bedroom townhouse on Egerton Crescent in South Kensington, with a full-floor bedroom suite, a drawing room and a large (for London) garden.
020 7861 1794, knightfrank.co.uk
A three-floor, five-bedroom maisonette in this Georgian townhouse in Bath is on sale for £1.85 million
KNIGHT FRANK
Bath, £1.585 million
A three-floor, five-bedroom maisonette in a Georgian townhouse on Great Pulteney Street. There are original ceiling roses and cornicing and even a working dumb waiter.
01225 325 993, knightfrank.co.uk
This six-bedroom Georgian village house in Bridgwater, Somerset, is on sale for £895,000
JACKSON STOPS
Somerset, £895,000
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The Priory is a six-bedroom Georgian village house in Bridgwater. Behind the handsome façade, there’s a butler’s pantry and a range of self-contained dwellings to let out.
01823 325144, jackson-stops.co.uk
Rent this three-bedroom flat on India Street in Edinburgh for £2,250pcm
RETTIE
Edinburgh, £2,250pcm
Who says you have to play it safe with an A listed home? This three-bedroom main door flat on India Street puts fun at its heart with pink toile wallpaper and a psychedelic hallway.
0131 624 4068, rettie.co.uk